Fully English

CHAPTER 31

FLASHBACK TO PROM NIGHT

Stuck in my thoughts, I tilt my head against the window just as another car pulls up beside us. Prom is over and the after-party we are about to attend is already in full-effect. Tasha and I are a few hours late but on our way nonetheless. Our chauffeur-driven ice-white Benz is stuck in traffic is all - the venue's parking lot was much more clogged than we anticipated so we hadn't managed to split like most of the attendees, including Reece.

I am in the seat behind the driver and can see the nape of his neck is slick with perspiration. I however, am not feeling the summer heat of the night – my make-up is still matte, highlight glowing, hair still laid flat but with volume. I cannot afford to ruin this look just yet.

"Can we put the air conditioning on?" I ask him.

His hand is sandwiched to the slim steering wheel despite the car not being in motion.

"Sure."

He complies with my request and presses a button that triggers the downward scroll of the tinted windows of the backseat. From the little gap produced, I can hear snippets of elevated voices chattering away. Tasha immediately recognises the voices and stops looking at her phone, scrolls her own window down and leans her head into the night air.

"Shona, Daisy!"

The voices stop, and two faces from a nearby car are revealed, both wide-eyed with excitement. I'm pretty sure these are her gym buddies.

"Tasha!" They call in unison.

"You guys on the way to Levi's?" She calls to both of them. "You should've told me! I would've rented a hummer and you could have carpooled with us!"

It is not like their vehicle is understated: all around us there are limos, Cadillacs and Ferraris - it was just because our vehicle was stark white that we were an eyesore.

"No worries girl!" The mixed race girl, Shona, exclaims on behalf of Daisy and her name. I only know her name because, being the only other black girl in our year, teachers would constantly mix our names up despite us not resembling even slightly.

The Asian-looking girl, who I deduce to be Daisy, perks up. "As soon as the traffic lets up, we'll be on your tail!" She pouts. "Where's Reece?"

In curiosity, I scoot up in my seat and peer into their car for a better view. They are together in the backseat with a young-looking male in the driver's seat: his face was youthful, torso toned, but most importantly, he is clad in dark coloured clothes from head to toe. At the time I didn't know his name but now I do.

Damon.

"I'm texting him right now, he left early to help Levi set up," Tasha pops out her bottom lip.

"Cool babe," Daisy bids. "Time to get loose!"

"Touché!" Finally, the driver manages to move us out of the lot and onto the network of streets that lead to the high street. The synchronised sound of both of our windows winding up consumes the air around me.

"You know them?" I ask skeptically.

"Hmm?" Tasha is looking in her compact mirror out of self-consciousness, checking to see if her appearance was presentable during the conversation she just had. I catch sight of my reflection near hers – my mascaraed eyelashes standing awry from my smoky eyelid.

"You know them?" I repeat.

"Yeah." She snaps the mirror closed and I lose sight of myself. "Some girls on the gymnastics team," she confirms my initial theory.